Week commencing 14 January 1991

A loose theme tying together some of this week in 1991's new entries is remix albums and re-releases.  Let's take a look.

 

The Beloved, who were sadly not beloved in Australia, contemplate their latest ARIA chart placing.

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 132 "When the Boat Comes In (Lifeboat)" by Chosen Few

Peak: number 126

Peak date: 21 January 1991

Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 132-126-127-130-145-134-137

 

We first saw Australian band Chosen Few in May 1989, and again in February 1990.  Here they are for a third and final time, with the fifth and last single from the band's only album Friends, Foe & Firewood (number 128, July 1990).  Two of the album's singles, "Get It Right" (released November 1988) and "Days Like These" (June 1990), missed the ARIA top 150.  Interestingly, all three Chosen Few's singles to register a place in the top 150 peaked in the 120's.

"When the Boat Comes In (Lifeboat)" took more than two months to dent the top 150, having been released on 5 November 1990.

 

 

Number 136 "The Best Thing" (Listen!! Mix) by Boom Crash Opera

Peak: number 112

Peak date: 4 February 1991

Weeks in top 150: 9 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 11 December 1989 entry: 74-78-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)-82-67-80-70-80-98-96

14 January 1991 entry: 136-123-131-112-121-127-125-129-134

Weeks on chart: 26 weeks (1989 original and 1990 remix versions combined)

 

Dance remixes and remix albums from acts you wouldn't immediately think of as being remix aficionados, such as The Cure, were starting to be a thing by late 1990.  Australia's Boom Crash Opera, better known for their guitar-based pop sound, hopped on board with Look! Listen!! (number 47, January 1991), which contained extended versions and remixes of tracks from their first two studio albums Boom Crash Opera (number 19, October 1987) and These Here Are Crazy Times (number 10, May 1990).

"The Best Thing" was originally released as the third single from These Here Are Crazy Times in November 1989.  The single underperformed, reaching a peak of number 67 in January 1990, becoming the lowest-peaking release from the album.  It spent 11 weeks in the top 150, all of which were in the top 100.

 

I don't recall hearing this mix of "The Best Thing" at the time.  I am generally not a huge fan of remixes that stray significantly from the original track, as this does, with a few exceptions.  The beat on this mix I recognised as being the same as that used on Neneh Cherry's "Manchild" (The Old School Mix).

 

While checking to see whether the beats on the Neneh remix were sampled from somewhere else - I was convinced they were, but apparently they are not - I discovered another song from Belgian group The Dinky Toys, 1992's "The Test of Time", which samples the same beat.  I had never heard of The Dinky Toys before, but really like this track.

While I'm not a huge fan of this mix of "The Best Thing", I commend Boom Crash Opera for trying something different.  Another Australian band known for their rock music, Noiseworks, were also experimenting with electronic beats around this time.  Yay for Australia being dragged into the 90s...

We shall next see Boom Crash Opera in 1995.

 

 

Number 144 "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler (re-entry)

Peak: number 144 (in 1991); number 1 (in 1989)

Peak date: 14 January 1991 (1991 re-entry); 29 May 1989 and 12 June 1989 (original chart run)

Weeks in top 150: 2 weeks (in 1991); 32 weeks (1989 and 1991 chart runs combined)

Known chart run: 20 March 1989 entry: 162-135-86-56-41-38-22-17-9-6-1-2-1-3-3-3-4-6-5-10-11-15-20-26-35-51-61-79-77-97-94

14 January 1989 entry: 144-146

Weeks on chart: 37 weeks

 

Bette Midler last graced our presence in 1989.

 

"Wind Beneath My Wings", from the Beaches soundtrack (number 1, June 1989), was a number one hit in Australia for Bette in 1989.  I have no idea why it re-entered the chart 15 months after it exited the top 150.  I can only assume that it may have tied in with the TV premiere of Beaches.  However, that seems to be much more a UK phenomenon, when an old single from a movie gets a re-release/re-enters the chart because the movie aired on TV, as happened with Berlin's "Take My Breath Away" and Roxette's "It Must Have Been Love" there.

Bette will join us again in October 1991.

 

Number 146 "Between the Saddle and the Ground" by Peter Wells

Peak: number 131

Peak date: 21 January 1991

Weeks in top 150: 8 weeks 

Top 150 chart run: 146-131-135-137-136-144-150-143

 

Peter Wells was a founding member and the slide guitarist in Australian pub rock band Rose Tattoo, before leaving the band (they later reformed) in 1983.  We saw Rose Tattoo's lead singer last month.

"Between the Saddle and the Ground" was the lead single from Peter's solo debut album Everything You Like Tries to Kill You (number 91, February 1991).  I don't recall hearing this one before.

 

While no music video for "Between the Saddle and the Ground" has been uploaded to YouTube, a live performance on Tonight Live with Steve Vizard has been.

Peter died from prostate cancer in 2006, aged 59.  He was the second of five former members of Rose Tattoo to die of cancer, with four of those deaths occurring between 2006 and 2009.  Yikes!  I think that even beats the cursed record held by Ramones.

Number 150 "It's Alright Now" by The Beloved

Peak: number 150

Peak date: 14 January 1991

Weeks in top 150: 1 week

Chart run: 152-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)-(out of chart for 1 week)-150

Weeks on chart: 4 weeks

We saw The Beloved back in October 1990 with the first of 9 (!) singles to peak outside the top 100 in Australia, and here they are with the second of those.

"It's Alright Now" was a new track recorded for the band's remix album Blissed Out (number 111, January 1991).  It was the album's only single.

Internationally, "It's Alright Now" peaked at number 48 in the UK in November 1990.

On the ARIA state charts, "It's Alright Now" performed strongest in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 134.

I didn't hear "It's Alright Now" until the music video aired on rage during retro month in January 2012.  I put that down to Countdown Revolution, where I caught their earlier singles, ending in December 1990, not long after this single was released.  The video is memorable - to me, anyway - for its hot air balloon ride scenes.

"It's Alright Now" and the Blissed Out remix album were the last releases where The Beloved were the duo of Jon Marsh (on vocals) and Steve Waddington.  Steve left the group in 1991, with Jon's wife Helena filling his place.

 

The Beloved will next join us in 1993.

 

Next week (21 January): A mammoth week, with 9 top 150 debuts and 8 bubbling WAY down under entries.

 

< Previous week: 7 January 1991                                        Next week: 21 January 1991 >

Week commencing 19 February 1990

After two weeks of 10 or more new entries to write about, this week there are a mere three.  One thing this week's debuts have in common is that they each spent 8 weeks in the top 150.  They also peaked within 4 positions of each other.  Interesting.

 

But before we take a look at this week's debuts, I have updated some earlier posts with newly-uncovered bubbling WAY down under entries:

- 10 April 1989: with a new entry from They Might Be Giants;

- 7 August 1989: with a new entry from The House of Love;

- 21 August 1989: with a new entry from Gladys Knight.

 

 Sonia: don't listen to the charts!

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 134 "Love" by Chosen Few

Peak: number 122 

Peak date: 9 April 1990

Weeks in top 150: 8 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 134-145-143-126-133-126-132-122

We saw Australian band Chosen Few back in May 1989, with the original version of "Rise" - a track that would become a number 23 hit for Daryl Braithwaite in December 1990.

 

I hadn't heard this one before, and can't tell you much about it... except that the single spent 8 weeks climbing to its peak of number 122 - and then fell out of the top 150 the following week.  Both this single and "Rise" are lifted from the album Friends, Foes & Firewood (number 128, July 1990).

Chosen Few will join us again in 1991.  In the interim, they released a single in June 1990, "Days Like These", which missed the top 150.

Number 138 "Listen to Your Heart" by Sonia

Peak: number 119

Peak date: 5 March 1990

Weeks in top 150: 8 weeks

Chart run: 157-138-144-119-121-135-133-136-127

Weeks on chart: 9 weeks

Sonia Evans, known as just 'Sonia', scored a number 1 in the UK in July 1989 with her debut single, "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You", an ode to stalking (check out this fan-made video using footage from the 1993 film The Crush!) written and produced by hit-makers extraordinaire Stock Aitken Waterman.  While this success was not replicated in Australia, it did nonetheless give Sonia a respectable number 29 hit in October 1989.

Although a fan-favourite, Sonia's second single, "Can't Forget You" did not fare nearly as well, peaking at number 17 in the UK in October 1989, and number 98 in Australia in December 1989.

Sonia's third release, "Listen to Your Heart", came out in the UK towards the end of November 1989, and slowly (for their chart at the time) made its way to number 10 in January 1990, in the quieter sales post-Christmas period.

 

Being a Sonia fan, I bought "Listen to Your Heart" on cassingle... before I'd actually heard it!  In fact, I bought all five of Sonia's singles lifted from her debut album Everybody Knows (number 144, September 1990) on cassette.  I have wondered before if I was the only person in Australia to do so.

Despite her promising chart debut in the UK, Sonia couldn't maintain the same level of success (though no-one did) as fellow Stock Aitken Waterman-produced artiste Kylie Minogue.  However, Sonia became the first British female artist to score five top 20 singles from one album.  That didn't stop her record label, Chrysalis, from dropping her, despite Everybody Knows peaking at number 7 and selling more than 100,000 copies in the UK.

 

Sonia also parted ways with Stock Aitken Waterman, who were themselves by this point on the way out, towards the end of 1990.  There is speculation that the reason for Sonia's departure from the team was because she asked Pete Waterman for a large advance for a second album, so that she could buy her parents a house.  Her request could not be obliged.  However, Sonia successfully sued for royalties she was owed from the album.

 

While Sonia continued notching up UK top 20 hits until 1993, including a stint at Eurovision, she was largely relegated to becoming a covers act after parting ways with Stock Aitken Waterman.  As a Stock Aitken Waterman fan, it's a shame that there wasn't a second album produced by them, as Sonia was one of the more-capable singers they worked with.  Everybody Knows is considered by many fans to be one of the production trio's best.  Ah, what might have been...

Sonia's previous two singles, "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You" and "Can't Forget You", had performed strongest on the Victoria/Tasmania state charts, where they peaked at numbers 15 and 74 respectively.   "Listen to Your Heart" performed strongest on the South Australia/Northern Territory state chart, where it peaked at number 72.  "Listen to Your Heart" also cracked the Australian Music Report top 100 singles chart, where it peaked at number 96.

While Sonia never set the Aussie charts alight, "Listen to Your Heart" is the first of four visits Sonia will make to this region of the chart in 1990!  We will next see her in May.

Number 149 "The Eve of the War" by Ben Liebrand

Peak: number 118

Peak date: 19 March 1990

Weeks in top 150: 8 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 149-149-144-124-118-122-140-123

 

Dutch DJ and remixer Ben Liebrand was responsible for updating several older hits with a contemporary 80's sound for their remixed re-releases, such as Hot Chocolate's "Every 1's a Winner" in 1987.  He was also behind Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight '88", which became a belated number 47 hit in Australia in June 1989, and the Rough 'n Ready Remix of Ram Jam's "Black Betty" (number 17, May 1990).

"The Eve of the War" was originally released by Jeff Wayne in 1978, lifted from his concept 'rock opera' album Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds (number 1, October 1978).  Given that this version of the track is, I assume, a remix and not a completely new recording, I am not sure why Jeff Wayne is not credited on this release.

That being said, "The Eve of the War" appears again in the number 101-150 region of the ARIA chart in September 1991, credited this time to Jeff Wayne (and not Ben Liebrand) - and betters its 1990 peak.  But I'll treat that as a separate release, given the different artist credit, when we get to it next year...

This version of "The Eve of the War" peaked at number 9 in the Netherlands in June 1989, and number 3 in the UK in December 1989.

We will see Ben again twice this year - once in his own right, and credited as a remixer on another release.

Next week (26 February): The relative paucity of new entries continues next week, with just two new top 150 debuts - one of which I've already featured in a special post.  In addition, there is one bubbling WAY down under entry.  You can also follow my posts on instagram, facebook and twitter.

< Previous week: 12 February 1990                                    Next week: 26 February 1990 >

Week commencing 15 May 1989

The most obvious common thread among this week's seven new entries and two bubbling WAY down under entries is that I didn't know any of these songs at the time; although one of them would become a proper hit when covered by another artist a year and a half later.

Chosen Few: Only a chosen few can rise to the top 100.

Top 150 debuts:

Number 123 "Rise" by Chosen Few

Peak: number 120

Peak date: 12 June 1989

Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks 

Top 150 chart run: 123-130-126-133-120-132-128

Before unearthing the 101-150 segment of the charts, I had no idea that the Daryl Braithwaite version of this song, which became a top 30 hit a mere 18 months later, was a cover version.  Chosen Few were an Australian band, formed in 1985.  They only released one album, Friends, Foes & Firewood, which I can exclusively reveal peaked at number 128 on the albums chart in July 1990.  This track is lifted from that album.  Chosen Few will bubble under again on the singles chart in 1990 and 1991; unfortunately, they never cracked the top 100.

Number 126 "My Spark and Me" by Robyne Dunn

Peak: number 122

Peak date: 22 May 1989

Weeks in top 150: 5 weeks 

Top 150 chart run: 126-122-144-139-140

Another track by an Australian artist I was unaware of at the time, Robyn Dunn has a Wikipedia page, despite not ever cracking the top 100.  Her notability for warranting her own article (yes, I moonlight as a Wikipedia editor) was presumably established due to being nominated for an ARIA Award for Best Female Artist in 1990, for parent album Labour of Liberty.  Only a snippet of the music video, screened on a 2019 rage Retro Month repeat of a 1989 episode of The Factory, is used in the video below.

 

 

Number 131 "Ordinary Lives" by Bee Gees

Peak: number 131

Peak date: 15 May 1989

Weeks in top 150: 6 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 131-140-139-137-146-138

Weeks on chart: 8 weeks

Bee Gees (no 'The') made their first of three Bubbling Down Under appearances in 1989 with this track; another one I was unfamiliar with in 1989.  As mentioned in my special post on singles peaking at number 101 between 1989 and 1991, Bee Gees were absent from the Australian top 100 singles chart for almost a decade, between January 1988 and June 1997.  The trio fared marginally better in the UK, where this track peaked at number 54 in April 1989.  "Ordinary Lives" also peaked at number 8 in Germany in May 1989, number 27 in the Netherlands in May 1989, number 9 in Switzerland in May 1989, number 22 in the Flanders region of Belgium in May 1989, and number 19 in Austria in June 1989.

In Australia, "Ordinary Lives" was most popular in Western Australia, where it reached number 83 on the state chart.

We will see Bee Gees next in July 1989.

Number 138 "Walk Away" by Del Shannon

Peak: number 124

Peak dates: 22 May 1989 and 5 June 1989

Weeks in top 150: 6 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 138-124-142-124-141-137

Without having access to the relevant chart book/s to verify the chart positions are accurate for myself, Del's Wikipedia article lists that he had numerous charting singles in Australia during the 1960s, including three number ones.  Since the 60s, however, (I can verify that) he only scored one top 100 'hit' in Australia, with "Tell Her No" in 1975 (peaking at number 90).  While this track just scraped into the Australian Music Report top 100 at number 99, it peaked 25 places lower on the ARIA chart.  Tragically, Del died due to suicide less than a year later in February 1990, aged 55.

Number 145 "Me and Mrs Jones" by Ten Wedge

Peak: number 127

Peak date: 5 June 1989

Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks 

Top 150 chart run: 145-128-128-127-128-135-139

I was expecting this group to hail from the US, given the smooth r&b sound; but it appears that they were Australian.  A cover version of the Billy Paul song about an extramarital affair, Ten Wedge's version didn't quite take off.  We'll hear from them again in 1990.

Number 148 "Rough Night in Jericho" by Dreams So Real

Peak: number 148

Peak date: 15 May 1989

Weeks in top 150: 1 week 

Top 150 chart run: 148

An American band, Dreams So Real dented the lower end of the Australian Music Report top 100 singles chart with this (at number 97), but peaked 51 places lower on the ARIA chart.  Wikipedia tells me that this track peaked at number 28 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks (now Alternative Songs) chart - but because the Billboard website is so... how shall we say, crap, I can't actually verify whether this information is correct.  The group released three studio albums between 1986 and 1990 before being dropped by their record label.

Number 150 "Highway to Hell" by Tiny Tim

Peak: number 150

Peak date: 15 May 1989

Weeks in top 150: 1 week 

Top 150 chart run: 150

Now this, readers, is truly bizarre.  Tiny Tim, real name Herbert Butros Khaury, was a ukelele player (yes, you read that right), best known for his falsetto version of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips".  So... just the kind of person you'd expect to release a cover version of an AC/DC song, right?  Sang in a much lower register, you would never guess this was the same person who sang "Tiptoe Through the Tulips".

Bubbling WAY down under:

Number 153 "Fading Away" by Will to Power

Peak: number 153

Peak date: 15 May 1989

Weeks on chart: 1 week

Will to Power are best known in Australia for their cover version medley of "Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley", which peaked at number 20 locally, and topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in December 1988.  That song, however, was not typical of the duo's sound; they instead were more of a dance (in that late 80s US kinda-way 'dance') act.  "Fading Away", lifted from the duo's debut album Will to Power (number 106, March 1989) didn't perform nearly as well on the chart as its predecessor, peaking at number 65 on the US Hot 100 in February 1989, and outside the top 150 locally.  It would take another cover version ballad for the group to score a second, and final, hit in early 1991.

Elsewhere, "Fading Away" also peaked number 84 in the UK in February 1989.  Domestically, the single performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 120.

Number 156 "Boy, I've Been Told" by Sa-Fire

Peak: number 156

Peak date: 15 May 1989

Weeks on chart: 1 week

Sa-Fire, real name Wilma Cosmé, hails from Puerto Rica.  "Boy, I've Been Told" was her first - and only - single issued in Australia, though was her third release internationally.

"Boy, I've Been Told" peaked at number 48 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in November 1988.

Locally, "Boy, I've Been Told" performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 112.

 

Next week (22 May): only four top 150 new entries, including a flop from an act responsible for one of the bigger hits of 1989.  You can follow my posts on facebook.

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